Three takeaways for Hansi Flick from Osasuna 4-2 Barcelona | La Liga

Barcelona’s fine start to the 2024-25 La Liga season finally fizzled out last night with a heart-breaking 4-2 defeat to Osasuna at El Sadar Stadium in what comes as a shock result.

The Catalans, who were in fine form domestically, were eyeing a historic start to the season with a win in Pamplona. Two quick goals conceded in the first half, however, set them back and left them with a mountain to climb after the break.

Pau Victor pulled one back for the club, but Osasuna struck twice again just when Barcelona were looking to pick up steam and closed the game with a 4-1 lead.

Lamine Yamal scored a late consolation goal for the visitors with a world-class finish from outside the box. The net result, however, was that Barcelona dropped three valuable points and ended their dominant run.

Barça Universal brings you three takeaways from the manager from Osasuna 4-2 Barcelona.

Respect must be given

Heading into last night’s clash on a run of seven straight wins, Barcelona were the overwhelming favourite to take three points despite playing away at El Sadar.

All hell broke loose, however, when Hansi Flick dropped his starting lineup for the night and the world got a glimpse of the eleven players who would defend the crest in Pamplona.

Credit where it is due, all the youngsters called up by the manager were indeed mature beyond their years and worthy to start. The fault, however, lay with the sheer extent of rotations that the manager deployed at the same time.

After not rotating the forward line for a month, Flick opted to hand both Raphinha and Lamine Yamal a day off in the same game, thus giving Pau Victor and Ferran Torres the start.

If the rotations in the final third were not enough, Inigo Martinez and Alejandro Balde were handed a rest as well, throwing Sergi Dominguez and Gerard Martin into the deep end together alongside a young Pau Cubarsi.

Playing against Osasuna away from home is one of the most difficult fixtures of the season, and to deploy endless rotations in that fixture can only be labelled as poor man management or disrespecting the opposition.

Respect must always be given irrespective of the opponent, and Hansi Flick’s overconfidence and unmeasured rotations at El Sadar cost Barcelona three points.

An untimely penalty

Barcelona’s first half against Osasuna was reminiscent of last season. The team looked incoherent in attack with sideways passing predominating and shaky at the back.

Through the first 45 minutes, the hosts were clearly the superior side and threatened Inaki Pena’s goal time and time again, exploiting Barcelona’s high defensive line immaculately.

The second half, however, saw Barcelona come back with renewed focus. Despite not making any immediate rotations, they created regular chances and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.

Everything was going to plan after Pau Victor’s goal as the Blaugrana were just one goal away from completing a comeback. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha’s introduction at the time meant it was only a matter of time before the equaliser arrived.

At that critical juncture, however, Sergi Dominguez erred and handed Osasuna a penalty that made the scoreline 3-1 and put it beyond the visitors’ reach.

Truth be told, the hosts may well have scored from the same move if the young defender had not attempted a challenge as well and the blame is thus not entirely his.

Two goals down with 20 minutes to go, Barcelona were pushed against the wall and all hopes of a comeback were crushed.

The end of a special run

It was clear from Flick’s statement before the game that he was never eyeing the record for the best start to La Liga in the club’s history despite being just one win away.

His rotations on the night only further clarified that point, and in the end, Barcelona’s dominant run in La Liga finally ended after seven straight wins with a gutting defeat.

The team undoubtedly will not bother much about the result given that it was purely owing to the over rotations deployed by the manager. The broken momentum, however, could come back to haunt Barcelona.

Having dropped three points last night, the Azulgranas have handed Real Madrid a golden path to close the gap between them on the league standings. Should Carlo Ancelotti’s men win the derby, they will be just one point away from Barcelona.

All eyes now turn to the UEFA Champions League where a win is more critical than ever before after the Spanish giants lost their opening game. One will hope the defeat does not leave the dressing room flaccid.